Posted on 12/02/2006 12:03:10 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
LOS ANGELES -- The city's fire chief, given his job a decade ago with a mandate to stamp out racism and sexism, is leaving amid controversy over a black firefighter's claim that his white colleagues served him spaghetti with dog food.
Chief William Bamattre announced Friday that he will retire on Jan. 1.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa praised Bamattre as a "class act" and dedicated firefighter. But at the same time he indicated he had lost confidence in the chief's leadership, calling Bamattre's departure a "joint decision."
Bamattre, 54, issued a statement saying he stands on his record with the department, but is "a political realist."
"Over the past few days I have come to the appreciation that these current issues have political implications beyond the scope of the Fire Department. I have become the focus of the debate and that is to the detriment of the LAFD," he said.
Bamattre, a firefighter for 31 years, was promoted to chief in 1995 when predecessor Donald Manning suddenly resigned, citing "false allegations and innuendoes" about claims of discrimination in the department.
On Friday, Bamattre quoted from his first communication to the department 11 years ago in which he said: "Discrimination and/or harassment of any type -- ethnic, gender, rank -- whether overt, subtle or unintentional, will not be tolerated."
The race issue blew up last month after the City Council approved payment of a $2.7 million settlement to firefighter Tennie Pierce, who claimed racial discrimination after being fed the dog food pasta at a firehouse meal in October 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
The next chief won't be able to fix it either, because civil service protections and union contracts make firing a firefighter nearly impossible. What might have some effect is, whenever the city settles or loses a racism/harrassment claim, it sues the city personnel involved for recovery of that money.
L.A. politics as usual.
Guess which ethnic group will provide the departing chief's replacement?
That lesbo fire chief from Minneapolis is looking for a job.
Of course all this is very important and the top priority of any good Fire Chief (ha), but does the city burn while they have their awareness programs and diversity training?
"City Council approved payment of a $2.7 million settlement to firefighter Tennie Pierce, who claimed racial discrimination after being fed the dog food pasta at a firehouse meal in October 2004"
$2.7 mil, hmmm, I'd eat dogfood for that!
On bit of information Newsweek didn't deem worthy of inclusion was this.
Larry Elder made it known this week that a photo surfaced showing Firefighter (and whiner in chief) Tennie Pierce caught in the act of shaving another firefighter's genital area during a separate hazing event.
Pierce gave as good as he finally got. He's an a$$hole and doesn't deserve a dime.
Mayor Villagarosa was dead on target when he vetoed the $2.7 million dollar settlement. I'm not a big fan of his at all, but when he's right, he's right.
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